“you will make me full of joy in your presence...” Psalm 16:11

Today was the first day of school for the last term this year. Opening was delayed one week due to the funeral of Zambia’s President. Today meant a lot of things here at the George OMNI School. It meant all the children would gather together again for the first time in over a month. It meant there would be a lot of chatter and some rowdy behavior as energy levels increase with the number of children present. It meant a good, hot, nutritious meal for all our students. And once again, it meant cleaning, as all the desks and chairs were wiped down and floors swept. There were huge smiles of gratitude from the teachers when they entered their office to find the shelving unit Ron had installed during the break. They quickly recruited some of the older boys and reorganized books and supplies, and swept it all clean. A nice way to begin the new term – clean and organized.

Today also meant one other thing. Something the children have been looking forward to for a very long time. Today meant new shoes for all the children. It was last January that First Lutheran Church in Strongsville, Ohio sponsored a U2Charist celebration where they collected shoes for our children. First Lutheran shipped thirty-one boxes filled with shoes to Zambia. Most of the boxes arrived in late February, but were held hostage by customs. The customs fee was outrageous, and more than the value of the shoes. After a lot of work by Foster and a customs agent, and then Ron and I arguing with the Post Office who then wanted more than the customs fee for storing them since February, the shoes were finally released last month. I wish that every person who attended that celebration and prayed for these children and donated a pair of shoes could have been here to share in the joy of this day. We placed a free-standing shelving unit, with three shelves on the front verandah. Each shelf contained three rows of shoes, all arranged according to size. As the children gathered for school, their excitement increased as they saw the shoes that awaited them. What they didn’t realize at first was that there were three times as many shoes which remained inside, just waiting to restock those shelves.

It was an easy task for the teachers to gather the children at the front of the house to receive this wonderful gift. They formed lines according to grade. And this time, the line of order was reversed, and it was oldest first! It seems that the older children usually are the last ones, and if sometimes the supply runs low on whatever is being handed out, they are the ones expected to be understanding. But today, there are plenty of large sizes – plenty of shoes for the older children. It is customary for the schools in Zambia to have a child named “head boy”. He is one of the older children, and he assumes responsibility when the teacher is not present. He takes charge of the activities outside when the children gather, making sure there is no fighting. He helps organize the lines the children form. He helps during lunch time, making sure all the children receive their food and milk and that they are behaving as they wait for the prayer before meals. And he is the first child to enter the school each day, and begin sweeping and readying the classrooms. So, we decided to honor our head boy, John Mwamba, in a special way, and allow him to be the first to choose a pair of shoes. In fact, we had already chosen a special pair of shoes for John. Someone had donated a pair of good-looking, sturdy, high top, red Nike shoes that just seemed to call out John’s name. Teddy, one of our teachers, explained to John that if those shoes fit, and he liked them, they were his, but he was free to choose any pair he wished to have. John gave a quick glance to the rows of shoes on the shelves, but put the red Nike’s on, smiled, shook my hand, and with a very sincere ‘thank you' joined the others in line, as they cheered for their head boy and his new shoes.

Then the parade was on. Teachers called three children forward at a time. In this continuous stream some came forward wearing worn out flip-flops, some wore shoes with toes poking through holes in the end, or tied together with a piece of string. But for most, there were no shoes to remove before trying on a pair. We allowed the children the pleasure of picking and choosing which shoes they would like to try, and Ron and I and the teachers would try to make sure they were a good fit – not just good-looking! The smaller children would climb onto a chair to survey the shoes on the higher shelves, making sure to choose just the right shoes. Their patience as they waited in line was amazing. There were necks craning to see who got what pair, ooh and aahs as we would bring out more shoes to refill the shelves, and proud smiles as each child stepped off the verandah wearing a new pair of shoes. It didn’t matter one bit that the temperature had soared to over 105 degrees before 9am. The children were so happy to have shoes, and I think it was doubly exciting that they were allowed to choose for themselves. Their joy was contagious – highly contagious – and continued to overflow as each child stepped up onto the verandah and approached what seemed like an endless supply of shoes. Many of the children couldn’t contain their joy, and danced their way off the verandah and back into line! What a blessing! We heard so many thank you’s, received so many polite curtseys and bows, and saw so many huge smiles. Many stopped to ask for a photo with their new shoes. And yes, as always, the children were singing as they waited in line for their turn. They were singing the song they wrote about OMNI – the song that says love isn’t love unless you give it away. While they were singing it as their thank you to you, it was also the children giving their love away – and back to you. Thank you for sharing your love. Thank you for this wonderful gift to these children. Thank you for sowing the seeds of gladness. Thank you for allowing us the privilege of sharing in this blessing! I can’t help but think of Psalm 19, although it may be referring to the ordinances of the Lord, the words keep echoing in my mind – “They are more precious than gold…they are sweeter than honey…”